Shot officer "knew Silky was dead"

Dying policeman Rodney Miller knew his partner Gary Silk was dead shortly after they were shot while on duty in Moorabbin, a Supreme Court jury heard yesterday.

Former Senior Constable Glenn Pullin said he heard Senior Constable Miller say: "Silky's dead, Silky's dead" as he lay wounded on the footpath near Warrigal Road.

Mr Pullin said Senior Constable Miller was in pain and afraid when he saw him early on August 16, 1998.

He said he picked up Senior Constable Miller's revolver, which was on the ground near his feet, and checked to see if it had fired any shots.

Mr Pullin said it appeared four had been fired. He said he then asked Senior Constable Miller if he had hit whoever shot him. Senior Constable Miller replied: "I don't think so."");document.write("

advertisement

");
}
}
// -->

In a trial before Justice Philip Cummins, Mr Pullin said he was sitting on the ground and talking to Senior Constable Miller, who said he did not want to die.

"Most of my conversation was along the lines of 'It's all right. You're not going to die. If you were going to die, you'd be dead by now'," he said.

The prosecution has said the officers were shot and killed while part of a team investigating 10 armed robberies allegedly committed by Bandali Michael Debs, 49, and Jason Joseph Roberts, 22.

Mr Debs, formerly of Narre Warren, and Mr Roberts, of Cranbourne, have pleaded not guilty to murdering Sergeant Silk and Senior Constable Miller. They have also denied involvement in the robberies.

The jury has heard Senior Constable Miller was found about 170 metres from the shooting scene at Cochranes Road, and died in hospital. The jury has also heard he had been shot once, and that Sergeant Silk was found dead in Cochranes Road after being shot three times.

During cross-examination by Chris Dane, QC, for Mr Debs, Mr Pullin agreed he was not a crime scene investigator.

He said he picked up the revolver to see if it had been fired because it might have meant police were then looking for wounded offenders or cars with bullet holes in them.

Earlier, Detective Senior Constable Lou Gerardi, Mr Pullin's police partner at the time, said Senior Constable Miller was cold and clammy and going into shock when he was at the Warrigal Road scene. At one stage, Senior Constable Miller became unconscious. "I held him as tight as I could. I shook him, told him to wake up, open his eyes. Thankfully, he did," Senior Detective Gerardi said.

He said he told Senior Constable Miller to hang on, and that an ambulance was on the way.